Silence Eternal (What I Would Have Done)
by Kami-chan.o3o
Summary: It didn't have to happen, and with a change of words, it won't.
1. Chapter 1

It would probably be best to have some knowledge of the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion to understand what's going on here. I don't own the Elder Scrolls in any way.

"What have you done..?" I heard behind me as I crouched down low in the grass, my bow still in my hands. "I thought I could get here in time, that I could stop you!" I turned around to face the man, my Speaker, Lucien Lachance, my wide eyes meeting his furious ones. "I'm here to end your miserable life..but.." his eyes began to soften their glare "I sense confusion. You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

I stood up from my crouched position and replied, still in shock "No, Speaker. Whats going on?" Lucien pointed to the man lying dead before the Lucky Old Lady statue, an arrow in his skull. "Do you know who you've just murdered?" and I replied once more "No, Speaker. I was given your specific instructions in my Dead Drop to take his life." Lucien looked at me calmly and said "Let me see your contract."

I took out the envelope from the pocket of my uniform and handed it over to him. Lucien slipped the paper out and took one look at it "This isn't my handwriting." he said. "What?" I asked, my mind racing back to the thought of my first Dead Drop. The Speaker's handwriting was neat and almost blocky in a way, but the writing on the paper was messy chickenscratch. "It...it isn't.." I stated "Then, who's writing is it, and who in the Void have I been killing?!"

"You followed my orders in the beginning, as expected, by taking the lives of the Draconis family, but after that, someone must have begun to switch your contracts. You've been systematically killing off the members of the Black Hand. J'ghasta, Alval Uvani, Shaleez, Havilstein Hoar-Blood." Lucien listed off several members of the Black Hand. I fell down to my knees as I heard this information, more shocked than I'd ever been in my life. "There's no time for that, Silencer!" the Speaker said, grabbing under my arms and forcing me to my feet. "I'm being hunted by the remainder of the Black Hand as we speak. They think I'm the traitor!"

"What should we do?" I asked, looking for guidance. "I'm going to go into hiding at Applewatch. It's safe there, and Fort Farragut is no longer secure. The best thing for you to do now would be to go to the location of your next Dead Drop, a barrel behind the statue in Anvil, and wait for the traitor to come." He replied. The Speaker always seemed to know what to do in a tight situation, but something didn't seem right.

"I'd rather you come with me to Anvil." I mumbled, trying not to disrespect his plan. "And why is that?" Lucien asked. "Because the Black Hand probably knows you're looking for somewhere safe to hide out, since you haven't been back to Fort Farragut. Applewatch seems like the best place to hide, because it's empty and not in any town, but the Black Hand is sure to be keeping an eye on it, along with all the other homes where my contracts took place." I explained.

Lucien looked mildly surprised at my long explanation, before he nodded "You have a point, Silencer. It would most likely be best for me to remain on the move, so I will accompany you to Anvil."


	2. Anvil

It took us a week on horseback (Shadowmere's, to be precise) to reach Anvil. We stayed off of the roads to remain undetected and reach our destination faster. At night we set up camp, and took turns looking out for the Black Hand and dangerous creatures that lurk at night. There wasn't any trouble besides the occasional wolf or bandit, and soon enough we'd reached the gates of Anvil.

He looked a bit strange, not wearing his uniform, but I'm sure he thought the same about me. He wore a dark green shirt, laced leather pants, and leather shoes. His hair was surprisingly long and was tied back in a ponytail. I had on a light green outfit that was commonly worn among towns, and my dirty blonde locks were hanging down at my shoulders.

We reached our destination in the middle of the night, around 2AM, and I tethered Shadowmere to a tree outside the city, since she tended to scare the other horses, before Lucien and I made our way into the city. Coincidentally, we arrived inside the gates just in time to see a young wood elf man holding the top of the barrel behind the statue and taking something from inside. The Speaker glanced at me, and I glanced back, giving him a nod.

I ran at the wood elf and kicked him hard in the stomach. He fell to the ground with an "Oof!". I unsheated my dagger and stepped on his chest just enough to keep him held down, while Lucien kneeled down to speak quietly to him. "Please, the hooded man made me do it!" he cried out, much too loudly, so I stepped on his chest harder to quiet him down. "Who is the hooded man?" Lucien asked, his deep, angry voice sending shivers down my spine. "I don't know!" the wood elf cried, but quietly this time "He rents out the cellar in the Lighthouse, please, that's all I know! Ulfgar Fog-Eye runs the lighthouse, he should be able to tell you more, now please let me go!" the man said, crying and squirming pathetically on the ground.

My Speaker moved his gaze up at me, and by the look in his eyes, I could tell he was going to kill the nasty little wood elf. I nodded and looked down at the wood elf, loosening my foot on his chest a little "The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they." I smiled in a fake, cheerful way, looking up at the sky for a moment, before back down at him. "W-wha..?" he asked, and in his confused state, Lucien unsheathed his dagger and slit the throat of the wood elf. He was gone in seconds, with a few muffled gurgles.

"To the Lighthouse?" I asked, kicking the body down into the pond by the statue. "Yes." Lucien stated, his voice still in that deep, angry tone The Speaker cast his Chameleon spell on himself, and then onto me, so we could hurry through the streets without behind questioned.

We left the walls of the city through a different gate and before us was the waterfront area of Anvil, along with the tall Lighthouse. We rushed to it, and Lucien immediately took out a lockpick and started to try to get the door open. I thought about asking if we should speak to the Lighthouse owner first, but the Speaker seemed eager to get into the cellar, so I didn't interrupt. Within seconds the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Lucien remained silent as we descended the staircase into the cellar. An overpowering stench of death filled the whole area, and I pinched my nose. A dead dog covered in flies was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. I shuddered at the sight, but Lucien just continued on through the disgusting cellar. There was a sound of barking behind one of the doors, and after the Speaker picked the lock, I quickly took care of an obviously deranged dog. "Poor thing probably went crazy, being pent up in here." I mumbled before following after Lucien.

The final room was where we found it.


	3. Mother

A head on a plate, surrounded in candles, and a diary on a chair...I stood, transfixed on the head while the Speaker read through the entire diary. It looked like one that could've been owned by a child. "This Diary Belongs to: Mathieu Bellamont." the back of the cover said, and the name was written in the same sloppy chickenscratch. "The handwriting matches the Dead Drops." he mumbled while he read. It took about five minutes for him to finish the entire book. When I heard it close, I turned from the head to look at him and hear about the diary's contents. "This is the traitor's diary. He's been in the Dark Brotherhood for years, and I...took his mother's life when he was a child, and now he wants to kill the Night Mother as revenge." he said in his deep voice.

I pushed my hair back from my face as I thought that all the missing pieces were beginning to come together. "This is proof that you're not the traitor." I said with my nose still pinched, smiling at him "All we have to do now is find the rest of the Black Hand." Lucien looked up at me before standing from the chair "First, let us leave this awful place. The stench is unbearable." he lead the way out of the cellar, book in hand. I took the head from the plate as part of the proof we would show the Black Hand.

I shut the door behind us and unpinched my nose after we left the cellar. The cool, sea air of the night felt wonderful on my face after being down there. Lucien sat against the Lighthouse, while I walked off near the water. He seemed to be deep in thought about what to do next, though I was completely losing my worries as I breathed in the fresh air.

"Silencer." I heard behind me. Lucien's voice had changed from it's angry, deep tone to a more soft one. "I'm at a loss for what we should do next. All places the Black Hand could be searching for me are much too far away for us to travel easily. " He leaned back against the stone of the Lighthouse and closed his eyes. "I recall telling Ocheeva, Sithis guide her, that I have a home here in Anvil. The Black Hand may know about it already, and if they don't they'll likely soon find out. It'll give us somewhere to stay and wait." Lucien stood up and ordered "Let's be off, than." The Speaker was a composed man, but after the week we'd spent together, it wasn't hard to tell that we was still angry about being thought of as a traitor, and perhaps even a bit frightened of being murdered at the hands of the people he trusted.


End file.
